EzFishN

I would look in the back of Big and Little Clifty, secondary coves with flooded timber. Throw small chartreuse jigs over flooded timber. I've never netted any huge ones this way, but have found it odd they stage in timber. This video may help you out. I've rigged up some spinners but have yet to try them.

Both types. but i spend most of my time in boats but know more of them. I have some friends that do the fly fishing thing that tell me about creeks on the west side of bentonville but have never tried. The Razor back greenway that goes through town, follows sugar creek and has deep pools in it (40 miles or so) I wouldn't count on anything sizable in those creeks other than fun. https://www.springvalleyanglers.com/ has a private ranch with the public creeks that flow into. I don't much about it honestly other than people I know that have a membership there. It's 45min west of bentonville. When I want to go wading or bank fishing, Beaver Lake tailwaters is where I go when i want to put dinner on the plate with Rainbows and Browns and have guaranteed success. It just depends on how much water they are letting out of the dam to determine how far north you go. Several easy access areas and walk able areas to get to. Definitely my type of fishing in late fall/winter. We get nice sunny days and I couldn't think of a better way to spend it. I also forgot to mention, one of the POA lakes, I think it's Lake Brettany, they stock trout in the Winter, and they die off by May, but has a very nice walkable and handicap area with docks. Lake Brittany is unique in that it houses the association’s first trout fishery. Trout stocking began in December 2007 to create a winter fishery, providing members with enjoyable cold-weather fishing while the warm-water species lay dormant. https://bellavistapoa.com/thingstodo/lakes/#lakeann They also have a heated dock for crappie winter fishing on Lake Avalon.

The story I read said it was from the tail waters, it must have came over the dam when they had the spill ways open. Article says by highway 62 bridge which is close enough to tail waters in my book. http://big1sstriperguide.com/state-record/ https://oklahoman.com/article/2696600/record-64-pounder-hooked-in-arkansas

Great job not getting skunked! If you make it out again, after the top water bite dies off, try little Maribou white jigs 1/8 to 1/4oz, the ones with white hair that see for a dollar or two; find some standing timber on points of secondary covers and you will catch plenty of Kentucky bass to keep the kids entertained. Also throwing Wacky Worms / Senkos against bluff walls will produce good large mouth near docks and vertical bluff walls when the fishing gets tough.

I guess it depends where you are from; hear in the NWA Arkansas area talks about white river as in down south, around 412 hwy bridge. I was trying to find the report, but came up empty handed, it use to be posted on beaverlake.com but now a 404 error, but if I recall, both these records were below the dam of beaver. I guess the main thing to point out, there is great fisheries around Bentonville area if you are need of more amenities, hospitals, airports, etc than Mountain View, although if you like the country, views, and smaller towns, I think Mountain view or surrounding areas would be a good pick. The Razor back green way follows the sugar creeks, although I haven't had any good success, I haven't tried much either, but always see brook/brown trouts. Swepco lake is close for power plant lake if you want to explore something else, and Grand lake is 50 minutes or so. Lake Fayetteville and Lake Sequoya are also nearby. Also between OK, and AR, is Spring Valley Club which has private land (membership club) and trout feeds that is closer to Bentonville side, there are other creeks over that way as well. You might look at Bella Vista, AR as well, it's north of Bentonville by 15 minutes and you live in the Ozark Plateaus/Mountains with having high speed internet, amenities, etc. The only pain is the POA if you can do deal with, private lakes, golf clubs, etc. https://bellavistapoa.com/ https://www.arkansas.com/things-to-do/sports-recreation/hunting-fishing/fishing/fishing-by-species/trout Bass, Striped 64 lbs., 8 oz. Beaver Lake Tailwater 04/28/2000 Jeff Fletcher, Golden, Mo. Trout, Rainbow 19 lbs., 1 oz. White River 03/14/1981 Jim Miller, Memphis, Tenn.

Bobby Garlands (straight tails) in shad blue/white color works good for me either casting or jigging. Use at least 1/8oz jig head.

I'm confused by this, can you elaborate "The white is a world class fishery, beaver tailwaters cannot hold a candle to it"; the tailwaters of beaver are the white river. It's where it originates from and feeds beaver, then goes up stream to Chain O Lakes, table rock, bull shoals, etc, and if I'm not mistaken two of the largest records have came from the beaver tailwaters for striper and trout. Anyways, if considering the Bentonville area, it's roughly 45 minutes drive to the dam of Beaver Lake. Currently table rock has been backed up so the river has a lot of current and depth to it. You will probably need to go up past 62 hwy on Missouri side to fish from the bank.

Congrats Lance! Any measurements?

Navionics maps has a few but I think they pull data from AFGC. None the less crappie seem to be hit or miss when I try as well. I think it's just the Beaver; it's like a giant aquarium of fishing traveling extravaganza. One minute they could be by the dam, or in the Clifities, next by 12 bridge, then back to the river and south. I think communication is the key, fish seem to swim all over the place in this lake. From stripers, crappie, blue gill, to everything other than catfish unless it's blues. I start looking at when they pull power and definitely plays a role in fish activity, and where I fish. We had a few stripers by the dam when they were pulling power again; the other two weekends I went when they weren't pulling, and got skunked. If heavy rains in the spring, Indian Creek and Ford's Creek feed a lot of water into the North Area of the lake, regardless of power off or on, but once they dry up, look further south. If no power being pulled, and the lake is low, go to the river highway 12 area was more oxygen is going to be in the water coming from the white river. It's still 200' deep by the JBHunt Island just west of rocky branch; so I don't buy the more oxygen in deep water theory, for stripers at least being at the dam. Even though the water is clear towards the dam, I think it gets stagnant until the boats get out and stir the water up later in the day; which by then the bite is over. I'm always after the GREEN Water. Algae/Plants/Oxygen/Moving Water = Bait Fish, Craws, leaches, Bait = Bigger Fish

I use 25 on ultralight, 6' and under, 30 on light above 6'

Pflugers I've dropped in rivers, creeks, lakes, sand, mud. It's like the ak47 or Glock of reels. Very hard to break in my opinion.

Pfluger is the best in my opinion. President combo, light or ultralight. They blow my Shimano, Abu Garcia, lews, and quantum's away.

Nice catch! Morning fishing?

Senkos and Bluff Walls with outcreeps. 3-5lbers always be hanging in around.

The more I fish beaver the more I'm convinced these fish travel miles throughout days/weeks even being structural related fish. Or go swim out to main water when waves get choppy. I've been snorkeling bluffs and diving down 10-15 feet and notice a whole new world of what fish are doing. Did you know they are almost lobster size crawdads in beaver? Anyways hoping to get this gopro figured out and post some underwater video. I'll start at one end of the lake fishing early the morning not seeing a darn thing where I caught fish the day before, then end up several miles out later in the day, find shad deep in coves, to middle of the channel.

Top water in my opinion works best when water temp starts 58F - 70F. After that it's only the super aggressive fish. I haven't had any luck on whopper ploppers, fairly certain they scare the fish. Seems like a muddy/color water specifically. Use big spooks for top watter, or poppers. If you must be on Beaver (terrible bass lake in my opinion), find the flooded timber areas of Indian Creek, Rambo, Big Clifty, Rocky Branch brush around islands, Mont Ne, if you need to be on the main water. When working main lake, second points, coves, I find it best to work on calm or slightly windy days, I usually let my boat drift around this timber being quiet as possible. Spooks allow you to have a long presentation time. It's super slow fishing. Otherwise, go straight up War Eagle arm of the creek, best large mouth fishing in my opinion. Flats, Creeks, Timber, Shad, Colored Water, Oxygen, Plants! Grand Lake is close by, 50 min to Pryor, OK. Good ol muddy water fishing, tie on a white buzz bait go have fun like you are fishing farm ponds. Have a good lake map / gps, watch for giant stumps. Stay in channel when traveling. Tight lines!

Since Father's day, I've been out last few weekends and been skunked with the exception a 20" 5lber quite literally in the middle of the channel. Waking up 3am, and on the water by 5am trolling big umbrella rigs around big island at the dam. My guess they are on the night feed. That's my plan this weekend to give it a try.

Wow. Awesome news! Thanks for sharing. I caught a couple little ones (12") way up war eagle this spring

@Bigfishes1 Thank you again! The family and I had a blast this Father's day weekend which happened to be my birthday too. Saturday morning, fished from 6am - 9am, around the island by the dam, 6 in the boat. Biggest fish was about 10lbs or so, but we didn't get an official weigh ins; these fish seemed to get stunned fairly fast in the heat, but we held them by the tail and they all made it back. Catch & Release!

@Bigfishes1 do you attach the rig to line directly or use a snap or, swivel, or both? Also what type of line are you using? Thanks

My recommendation is to save those pennies and buy an MinnKota Ulterra for putting in by yourself. I get all kinds of looks when I drop my boat off with no one in it and let it spot lock off to the side. Here are all the put ins I know of from Prairie Creek down. Prairie Creek, concrete, two docks Highway 12 bridge, no dock, concrete path Horseshoe bend, concrete path, no dock Monte Ne, gravel ramp, no dock Hickory Creek has a nice spot, lots of parking, single dock, put in at the public spot, or marina. both concrete. I would use this. They sell bait too. War Eagle Marina, sits on East Side of the River, go north after crossing east on highway 12 bridge. Limited parking. Blue Springs Area is just south of Hickory Creek, no dock. 412 Bridge, no dock, challenging in high water as the current can flow fast. I haven't had any issues getting my Seaark 20' almost all the way to Lake Seqoyah. Granted it's a flat bottom boat and the water levels are up.

I use (discontinued) but No. 8 Tackle Company (now 13 Fishing), Medium Light power, 7ft. Works perfect. If you need more sensitivity use braid to fluro leader. 7'6 seems like a big rod in my opinion for Ned Rigs. If I'm dock shooting, I use a 6'6 Medium Heavy so I can haul the fish out before they tangle me in the cables or around posts.

Late Winter / Spring time craws on Lake Windsor Lake Windsor, Crystal shad, Threadfin shad, Gizzard shad, and baby bass.

Hopefully this thread will help people identify what they are seeing. Please share your shots too. Sorry for poor quality pics on some of these. I ended up snapping with my cell phone as Humminbird removed the feature of saving screen captures to my SD card while my lake map card is in after an update. (Grrr) White Bass & Shad on Down Imaging and Side Scan. Notice how white bass stack vertically in the main lake. Feeding bass, notice the zig zag lines. Bass on submerged brush. Mixed fish with Shad, Bait Ball Crappie on brush Submerged Cedar Trees Stripers on the move

Moved to Bella Vista, Lake Windsor, roughly 5 years ago from Kansas City, (plan was to end up on Beaver but home inspection fell through). If I'm not working, I'm usually fishing. Beaver is our favorite lake. You'll find me on my black SeaArk Easy 200. Feel free to give me a shout if you see on the ramp or the water. My favorite fishing is the one's that give a fight. So I don't spend much time crappie or walleye fishing unless I'm hungry. I was also planning on joining the FLW co-angler series until the rules changed up last year; so looking for more fishing buddies or let me know if you are tournament angler looking for a teammate. Noticed lost of MidWest tournaments that look appealing. My plan is to start another youtube channel and cover Beaver, Swepco, Bella Vista and surrounding lakes as I get asked lots about fishing and guiding. Looking to network, learn more, and enjoy more fishing. Enjoy some eye candy below. Tight lines all! Mixed bag on Windsor using crank and flicker minnow A complete fluke that I landed this with a net. ~40lbs 10 lbs at Lake Windsor, fishing from the bank in early spring. Beaver Lake, Indian Creek White Bass 7lb Lake Windsor Mother in Law first fish ever. Solid 4lb bass. Swepco, Fish the deep end for the big ones. Beaver Lake Male Crappie War Eagle Mill White Bass run Trout, White River, Beaver Lake Tailwaters